Critical Thinking Exercise

Review the following sample student paper and answer the following questions:

What do you notice about the sample research paper? What are its strengths, and what might still need work? Does the thesis give a clear statement of what the paper will argue? Does each paragraph address a single main idea? What sorts of transitions does the author use? Ultimately, does this sample student paper meet the definition of a “good” literary research paper to you? Why or why not? Your response should include at least one direct quote from the paper. For example, you might identify the thesis statement, a sentence with effective transition between paragraphs, or even a sentence with issues or errors.

For more information about citing in MLA Style, see the Purdue Online Writing Lab here: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html

Do you have any research paper-related questions you’d like answered? If so, please ask. Consider questions about any of the following:

Documentation Questions (Quotes, Citations, Works Cited)

Avoiding Plagiarism

Help with GMC Library and/or general research

Questions about Source Validity

Any issue related to grammar/mechanics (punctuation, etc)

Issues with content (understanding a particular aspect of a story)

Literary terms/concepts (a certain literary element, or a particular literary device or critical theory, etc).

Task 1:

Create a new discussion topic on or before the required date/time by clicking the ‘**REPLY HERE**’ post. In your reply, you will post your answers to the above questions. Your response should be a minimum of five sentences. Going over the minimum sentence requirement is acceptable. It is suggested that you use MS Word or another word processing application that can check spelling/grammar and can show the word count prior to posting.

Task 2:

After you have created and posted your main response, you are then required to read and respond to a minimum of 2 of your classmate’s discussion topics. Each of your responses should be a minimum of 50 words. Think of your responses in terms of a contribution to an ongoing dialogue. Elaborate on a single idea and keep your post short but concise as if you were holding a conversation with your classmate(s). Incorporate what you have learned from the weekly reading material and from your own real-world experiences. Do not forget to use proper MLA documentation whenever necessary. The grading rubric for this assignment can be found in the Grading Rubrics under Critical Thinking Exercise.

The Critical Thinking Exercise Rubric can be accessed by by viewing the course rubrics.